No surplus, but budget still strong: Swan

Date: December 23 2012

Australia still has a strong budget position, despite the fact that it's unlikely there will be a budget surplus next year, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.

Mr Swan said the global financial crisis, natural disasters, the shift of economic hegemony from west to east, the ageing population and the digital revolution had all significantly reshaped the world.

But Australia faced these challenges from "a position of unparalleled strength", he said.

"We end 2012 as the most resilient advanced economy in the world - the economic Iron Man," Mr Swan wrote in his Treasurer's economic note.